I drowned in the dark of the bedroom. My legs ached from kneeling in the futon mattress for hours. Why did I let that happen? Sitting in silence wouldn't do anything, but I couldn't stop replaying it in my head.

A path of yellow light stung my eyes. I looked over to see Pasitheo standing at the door. The aroma of rice and vegetables filled the room from downstairs, as well as the distant sounds of clacking dishes.

“Are you alright?” His soothing voice was a welcomed break in my gloom. “We’re making spaghetti downstairs. And you must be hungry after sitting up here all day.”

I didn't answer.

He leaned on the door frame, and I realized he was in a nightgown. My mind wandered. So I guess he wasn't just watching over the house; he was staying.

I flinched at a sudden weight on the mattress next to me. A warmth I've been missing came from him. He outstretched his legs, kicking his feet like an anxious kid.

“I overheard what happened,” he said. “Your friends were talking about it.”

I rubbed my knees as I struggled to my feet. For a second, I forgot I had changed into my pajamas beforehand. I forgot a lot of things from earlier. I trudged to a window across the room.

“I caught a bit of what happened outside,” he said.

“It’s not that bad,” I sighed. “I suppose it's better I spend time with Dorothy than focus on stupid things.”

“What things?”

Theo felt my shoulder. I flinched, and met his softened, warm eyes.

I shifted away from the touch, focusing on the window pane instead. “I’ve been collecting these weird giant feathers since the beginning of the school year. They're really pretty, and they had this blue dust on them. But for some reason, I had this weird dream and—”

I glanced back at him.

“Go ahead,” he whispered.

I mustered the dry courage to tell him everything else, but nothing came out.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

He mouthed something.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“It’s just that… Korey didn’t even know what they were. He just burned them like they were his. But I guess they aren’t really mine, huh? They belong to whatever giant bird they came from. Or a marketing team. Have you heard of that new Trident’s Lane movie?”

Theo patted me on the back. “That doesn’t mean they're his either.”

I smiled, but I didn't know how real it was. “They were so pretty.”

“Let’s get something to eat,” he said. “To get your mind off of things.”

We made our way downstairs into the kitchen. A black pot of brown rice, beans, and vegetables sat on the island counter, surrounded by black bowls. It definitely wasn’t spaghetti.

Dorothy folded the rice as Jamie threw a constant stream of season salt.

“Not so much sodium!” she grabbed the shaker from him. “I’m already cramping.”

“Where’s your coastal spirit?” Jamie elbowed her, laughing.

“Gerard.”

“Dorothea!”

“It looks good to me,” I chimed. My mouth watered. I grabbed the spoon and filled a bowl to the brim. Dorothy and Jamie were too busy debating.

Pasitheo suddenly stood at the porch door, holding his meal.

“Let’s go eat outside,” he suggested. “I heard the weather would feel great at this hour. Rosetta wouldn’t let you do that, would she, Dorothea?”

“Call me, Dorothy,” she corrected, and chuckled. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom first. You go outside, though.”

She turned to me. “Can you stand guard in mom-mom’s room? It’s so creepy up there.”

“Sure,” I said.

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Theo opened the door for Jamie as they made their way through the porch and outside.

Dorothy ran over and shut the door.

“Geez, what’s wrong, Dori?” I stepped back. Something about her speed struck a nerve in me.

“It’s nothing serious, but I need to show you something,” she whispered, whisking by me and into the dining room.

I followed her to the staircase, which stood next to the bleak living room. Only one amber light shone overhead, leaving the house feeling abandoned. We tiptoed up the stairs.

Though the second floor hall cracked with every step, she managed to keep silent. I was a different story. As I loomed behind her, I stepped on the back of her sneaker, thumping the floor.

She hissed. “Shush, okay?”

“Why do we have to be quiet?” I asked.

“You know there’s ghosts up here.”

“Yeah. I don't blame you for thinking so.”

I waited in Rosetta’s bedroom as Dorothy went to the bathroom. She was right. It was practically haunted upstairs.

I heard her walking back down the hall and to the room across from ours.

“Come on!” she hushed, and waved me over.

“Why?” I followed her.

I had no clue who’s room it usually was, but hanging on the door was a wooden sign reading “Guest”. Dori said it belonged to her aunt before they moved out.

She gently turned the knob and cracked the door just enough for her to slide in. She pulled me inside and turned on the light. The room wasn't what I expected for such an old house: fresh black walls, sleek furniture, and a polished floor.

An open blue suitcase laid on the bed.

“Should we be in here?” I whispered. “This is Pasitheo’s room, isn't it?”

Dorothy studied the top layer of hygiene products in the suitcase. She took out a bottle of body wash and cologne and found a lilac notepad with a giant, black feather stuck in the pages. The same feathers, dust and all.

“See this?” she asked. “It’s the same paper that the note was on. Theo wrote the note! And the feather!”

“Huh. So he made the crow bring it to us.” I rubbed my chin. “And the cookie. He probably gave it to her, too. How’d you know he had a notepad like that?”

“I saw him writing in it earlier before he gave you the bag of cookies.”

“And he probably found the feather lying around like you did. But how’d he know we were coming here?”

Thunder rumbled outside.

“A storm?” Dorothy scrambled to the suitcase, reorganizing the notebook and the other items.

Even through the black curtains, the window flashed blue, along with another crash. We hurried out of the room, turned off the lights, and sped out of the room. I gently closed the door.

Black flooded the house. Every light, save the moonlit window, vanished.

I clung to Dorothy’s shoulders like a scared cat. “Powerful storm. Y-You’re not creeped out, are you?”

“It’s fine, Jackie.” Dori pulled her phone from her pocket. But everytime she pressed the power button, the screen stayed black. I took out my phone, but the battery barely clung on for dear life. Like a timer, the charge slipped from 20% to totally dead in a second.

“I need a new phone.” I hit its side, hoping for something different.

A bright, crystal light shone from the staircase. I looked over the railing, and saw Theo holding up a device from the last step.

I stepped back and grabbed a random bead bracelet off the bookshelf behind me.

“So it looks like you got something,” I whispered, and handed it to Dorothy.

We rushed down the stairs, exposed by the blinding light.

We met Theo, who appeared angelic in the bit of light falling on him. His eyes seemed to glow, though his body was silhouetted. His jacket and hair were matted with water.

“Hope you found what you needed, ‘cause the power might be out for awhile,” Theo noted.

I leaned against the stair wall, letting Dorothy squeeze through to the floor. Although, she made sure to shuffle a couple feet away from Theo once she did.

“I found what I needed,” she shivered from the dining room.

“Our phones drained completely,” I told Theo. “Guess I should've charged it.”

Theo pressed something, turning the light a warm gold before fading back to white.

“What kind of light is that? It looks like you're shooting the sun out of that thing.”

“Solacrimos.”

“What?”

“Pretty much,” Dorothy's voice trembled. “It’s just a bracelet, see? I thought I dropped it.”

“We weren't talking about that,” Theo said.

“AHHH!”

Dorothy slipped back into the dining room table, rumbling the chairs. An orange light glowed like a campfire from the kitchen, where Jamie poked his head out.

He dropped his giant red flashlight to the ground in a fit of laughter. Dorothy growled, cupping the fabric of her chest.

“It’s raining really hard, even for summer.” Theo combed his fingers through his mane. “Guess our dinner will remain traditional till it clears up. Before our food gets cold. Let's—”

Skrrrr! Zrrrr!

The lighting wasn't getting any better. But an even louder crash echoed after.

Theo’s voice quivered along with his flashlight. “Hurry, before everything gets cold.”